Kijoon Yu Appointed GM Daewoo Vehicle Engineering

General Motors continues its restructuring plan at a larger scale and announces that Kijoon Yu will be appointed president of Daewoo Vehicle Engineering on September 1. Yu is currently working as senior vice president of GM Daewoo Manufacturing Operations since January 2008 when he returned from GM's global engineering organization in Detroit. He started his career in the auto sector in 1986 when he joined the Technical Center of Daewoo Motor Co, being in charge of the company's small and compact car programs.

GM Daewoo is one of the GM divisions which are performing better these days, in spite of economic slowdown that reduced sales of all carmakers across the globe. After demanding money from the Korean government in February in order to cope with the recession, GM Daewoo is now increasing the domestic market share month by month, setting new monthly sales every once in a while.

In June for example, GM Daewoo delivered a total of 11,234 vehicles and exported 27,009 units. It increased its domestic vehicle sales by 37.8 percent compared to the previous month. The Lacetti Premiere and the Winstorm SUV are the two best-selling models of the company, with June sales of the first model amounting to 5,278 vehicles.

"We are pleased to see GM Daewoo's domestic sales continuing to increase, led by the new Lacetti Premiere which is gaining popularity due to its dynamic style and overall value,” said Rick Labelle, vice president of GM Daewoo Sales, Service and Marketing. “We expect our total vehicle sales including exports to improve in the second half of the year as global markets start to recover and we prepare to add the Next Generation Matiz to our domestic product lineup this fall.”